Interview with Sen. Rand Paul: Rescission

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - On May 8, President Donald Trump submitted a rescission request to Congress which would save the American taxpayers over $15 billion.

The money would not be taken from the 2018 or 2019 budget, but instead out of funds that had been set aside but not spent.

Congress has until June 22 to act. Republicans can do this without Democrat support by a simple majority.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is one of the senators who introduced a bill to approve the president’s rescission request.

SEN. PAUL: I’m for it. We gotta cut spending. And here’s the thing is, most of the spending in that package is un-obligated funds, meaning that they were supposed to be spent but were never spent, so it’s not like we are actually even eliminating a program. You’re getting rid of money that has simply been sitting there and not been spent. And here’s what I’ve heard: I’ve heard that in the House of Representatives that unfortunately there is not enough Republicans to pass it, first of all no Democrats will vote for this, but there’s not even enough Republicans, because Republicans have gotten wobbly in the knees and they're like, “oh no we’re afraid of cutting spending,” even though when they go home and they talk to their local Rotary or Lions Club they’re all about how conservative they are, until they get up here and they can’t make difficult decisions.

BORIS: Specifically, a lot of the criticism about that rescission package, the $15 billion, is that it cuts some money allocated to CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. What is the truth about the money that is being rescinded as part of the package if it were to pass?

SEN. PAUL: Most of the money is un-obligated money, meaning it was never spent. It has just been sitting around.

Here is the bottom line: Republicans have to stay true to their message of cutting spending and approve the president's rescission request. If this rescission passes, the president will then be able to make other, bigger, requests that will save the American people tens of billions of dollars.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Boris Epshteyn formerly served as a Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign and served in the White House as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations.